Champagne is the northernmost major wine appellation in France the Marne, Aisne, and Aube departments around Reims and Epernay. The method champenoise (secondary fermentation in bottle) is the legally defining production step; the raw material is principally Chardonnay (Blanc de Blancs), Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier, with Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris, Arbane, and Petit Meslier permitted in small volumes. Non-vintage Champagne is blended across multiple years to a house style; vintage Champagne is declared in exceptional years. The Champagne sub-regions Montagne de Reims (Pinot Noir dominant), Cote des Blancs (Chardonnay), Vallee de la Marne (Pinot Meunier), Cote de Bar (Aube, Pinot Noir) produce distinct base wine profiles.

Bouchon's Champagne range is built around Grower Champagnes and Recoltant-Manipulant (RM) houses producers who grow their own grapes, make their own wine, and bottle under their own label rather than the major Negociant houses (NM: Moet & Chandon, Krug, Laurent-Perrier, etc.) who buy in 70-80% of their grapes. Gosset (Epernay), Bonnaire (Cramant, Grand Cru Blanc de Blancs), Paul Bara (Bouzy, Grand Cru), and Philipponnat (Mareuil-sur-Ay) are all independent operations with strong specific-terroir identity.